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Dec 28th, 2005 While stationed in Kuwait in 2003, awaiting orders to go forward in support of 3rd Infantry Divisions invasion, I was on my way back from the shower trailer to my tent on the outskirts of Camp New York. I had just had my first hot shower in a week and was feelin' mighty fine, walkin' in my shower shoes, all relaxed and all, you know the deal. Well, I'm about 200 m from my tent, walking with my Mag-lite 3D cell flashlight beaming over the smooth sand in front of me when all of a sudden I notice movement in the sand. I point my light right at the spot and next thing ya' know I see this thing shoot (shoot is the best way to describe it) across the sand about 5 m in front of me, heading to my right flank. I see in the light that it is a spider-looking thing, bigger than a kitten and i just about *#@^%&* myself. I noticed how it made the dry sand spit up behind it as it ran, leaving a dust trail hanging in the air and I immediately ran to my left. As I started to run, I figured I'd run a semicircle to get as far away from this thing as possible as I went to my tent. I was horrified of this thing whatever it was. I realized as I was running that if it was really after me it would have got me by now, due to the speed it had exhibited. The sand kicking up from my flip-flops felt like THE THING fast at my heels. I made it back okay and shared my experience with my SGT., who began to recount the stories of the camel spiders he encountered on his first tour there. All I can say is now that I'm back in the states, and out of the service, is that my arachniphobia that I had before I went to Kuwait and Iraq is nonexistent. Now, when I see a spider, real spider that is, I just smash it with my hand. During my tours of the Middle-East and Southwest Asia, I eventually came to accept them as part of daily routine. I do believe however that if I ever see another camel-spider in person, I'll have a nervous breakdown or something. These things alone are enough to give someone P.T.S.D. The Iraqi's I talked to said that they believed the camel spider was "Allah Mujad" or "fighters of God". Their word for camel spider is pronounced, as best as I can in type anyway, "ainkabout",like INKABOOT. I spoke with one boy who said that INKABOOT ran across his face while he was in bed and he considered it a blessing. The Iraqis think INKABOOT fights for them against the American forces. Well, that's my story and I still have nightmares sometimes about those things. Dave Holmes, Formerly Spc. Holmes, United States Army. /p>